Peter’s confession – “You are the Christ/Messiah” – revealed real insight into the nature of Christ’s person and mission, but at the same time, his concept of Jesus’ messiahship was far from being perfect. He and the other disciples still had much to learn of Messiah’s suffering, rejection, and death.

Here is the video link:

Mark 8:22-38… Who Am I?

The audio links for Spotify and iTunes are to the right.

Here is the transcript the podcast is derived from.

Mark

Mark 8:22-26 Not a Cookie-Cutter Healer

22 They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him. 23 He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man’s eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?”

24 He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.”

25 Once more Jesus put his hands on the man’s eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. 26 Jesus sent him home, saying, “Don’t even go into[a] the village.”

I don’t know why this healing happened in this manner – I don’t know why Jesus didn’t just touch him and heal him completely. Perhaps it was due to the little to no faith displayed by the man himself (a theory put forward by my Bible Commentary as written below). I tend to think to look at this as proof that the miracle-gift of healing is not a cookie-cutter thing. Every time someone is healed miraculously it is a unique and special thing. Sometimes it happens after someone lays hands on a person, sometimes it simply requires a spoken word. The fact that this healing stands alone is not to its detriment.

This incident, recorded only in Mark, takes place at Bethsaida. “Some people” brought a blind man to Jesus for healing. The fact that the initiative seems to have come more from the people who brought him than from the man himself may account for the way Jesus dealt with him.

Barker, K. L., & Kohlenberger, J. R. (2004). The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Abridged Edition. Zondervan.

Mark 8:27-30 Who Am I?

27 Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. 

Jesus avoided the city of Caesarea Philippi, seeking instead to retreat to the villages of this predominantly non-Jewish region. Caesarea Philippi. Some 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of the Sea of Galilee. Rebuilt by Herod’s son Philip, it was named for himself and Caesar Augustus and was associated with imperial worship.

Reference: Edited by Carson, D. A. (2018). NIV, Biblical Theology Study Bible. Zondervan.

On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”

I wonder if this question was prompted by their proximity to a city dedicated to celebrating Caesar as a god. Its as if Jesus us asking – “these people say Caesar is god. Who do YOU say I am?”

28 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets.”

29 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”

30 Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.

Jesus now directed the question at the disciples in an emphatic manner: “Who do you, my most intimate and trusted friends—in contrast to the other people who neither know me nor understand me—think I am?”

Peter, true to form, had a ready answer: “You are the Christ.” He was the spokesman for the Twelve, and in his confession one of the themes of this gospel (cf. 1:1) is stated.

The Greek word Christos (“Christ”) translates the Hebrew mashiach (“Messiah”) and means the “Anointed One” of God. In the OT the word is used of anyone who was anointed with the holy oil, as, for example, the priests and kings of Israel (cf. Ex 29:7, 21; 1Sa 2:10, 10:1, 6; 16:13; 2Sa 1:14, 16). The word carries with it the idea of being chosen by God, consecrated to his service, and endued with his power to accomplish the task assigned. Toward the close of the OT period, the word “anointed one” assumed a special meaning, denoting the ideal king anointed and empowered by God to deliver his people and establish his righteous kingdom (Da 9:25-26). Jewish literature between the Testaments spoke of the coming rule as restoring David’s kingdom to its former prosperity and greatness. The ideas that clustered around the title “Messiah” tended to be political and national in nature, which is why Jesus seldom used the term. Of its seven occurrences in Mark, only three of them are in sayings of Jesus (9:41; 12:35; 13:21); and in none of these does he use the title of himself (see also comment on Mt 1:1).

Because Jesus was reluctant to speak of himself as the Messiah does not mean that he did not believe himself to be the Messiah. In this passage (8:29) and in 14:60-62, he accepted it as used of him by others (cf. Jn 4:25-26). As Messiah, Jesus saw himself as the fulfillment of all those prophets, priests, and kings who were anointed in the OT; he was bringing into existence a new Israel.

Peter’s confession revealed real insight into the nature of Christ’s person and mission, but his concept of Jesus’ messiahship was far from being perfect. He and the other disciples still had much to learn of Messiah’s suffering, rejection, and death, as the immediately following incident reveals. He therefore told them to be quiet at this time about his role as Messiah. They still needed instruction about it before being given permission to proclaim it without restraint.

Barker, K. L., & Kohlenberger, J. R. (2004). The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Abridged Edition. Zondervan.

30 Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.

It isn’t because Jesus is afraid. He is in charge of the timetable.

Mark 8:31-33 Jesus Predicts His Death

31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 

The death of the Son of Man would be followed by his vindication: after three days he would be raised from the dead. “After three days” occurs also in 9:31; 10:34. In Mt 16:21; 17:23; 20:19; Lk 9:22; 18:33, however, “on the third day” is used. The two expressions are identical in meaning. Contrary to English usage, in a Jewish context “after three days” can mean a period of less than seventy-two hours, as long as parts of three days are included… Jesus did not want his messiahship to be disclosed because it involved suffering, rejection, and death. Popular expectations of messiahship would have hindered the accomplishment of his messianic mission.

Barker, K. L., & Kohlenberger, J. R. (2004). The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Abridged Edition. Zondervan.

32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

Jesus’ words to Peter were not only severe, they were deliberately spoken in the presence of the other disciples, for they probably shared Peter’s views and needed the same rebuke. Jesus recognized in Peter’s attempt to dissuade him from going to the Cross the same temptation he had experienced from Satan at the outset of his ministry (cf. Mt 4:8-10). In both cases, Jesus rebuked the satanic option of using a different means to accomplish his mission.

Barker, K. L., & Kohlenberger, J. R. (2004). The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Abridged Edition. Zondervan.

Mark 8:34-38 The Way of the Cross

34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 

Even if that involves my dying (Peter are you listening?)

Two requirements of discipleship are (1) denial of self and (2) taking up one’s cross and following Jesus. By denial of self, Jesus did not mean to deny oneself something, but to renounce self—to cease to make self the object of one’s life and actions. God, not self, must be at the center of life. 

Barker, K. L., & Kohlenberger, J. R. (2004). The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Abridged Edition. Zondervan.

35 For (or – “because”) whoever wants to save their life[b] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 37 Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 

Anything less than renouncing self and making God the center and object of your life will involve serious repercussions… If your life is not anchored to God, then the currents pf life will pull you away. If your life IS anchored to God, then no current, temptation, or circumstance can pull you away.

38 *If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

In 2 Thessalonians 1, Paul says something similar to this when he writes:

2 Thessalonians 1

6 God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you 7 and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. 8 He will punish *those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 9 They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might 10 on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. 

I truly believe that your view of Jesus will determine how you live your life. If you see Him as an eternal cuddle-buddy Who will allow you anything because He loves you, you will live life in a certain way. If you view Jesus as Lord of Lords, King of Kings, as One Who hates sin and disobedience yet is just, then you will live life in quite a different manner. 

I love the passage in C.S. Lewis’ book The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe were Tumnus  states “He (Aslan) is not a tame lion, you know.” Another character responds (Lucy, I believe) “But He’s good!”. That’s God! He is not a pushover, He is not spineless. He is not a pet – He is God. But He is not overly harsh to His children.

With this, Jesus moves into the second half of His ministry on Earth.

Blessings!

Paige